Atoth

A vague outline like the rippling of heat against cold manifests into the form of a hideous headless humanoid with translucent dead-white skin and clawed hands, a gaping fanged maw where its neck should be. Below its ghastly torso, its ghostly entrails fade into long ethereal streamers trailing in its wake.

Cloud Mind (Su)

As a swift action, an atoth can make itself completely undetectable to a single creature within 100 feet, erasing all awareness of its presence from that creature’s mind (DC 26 Will negates). The target cannot perceive the atoth with normal or exceptional senses, including blindsense and blindsight, nor with any form of magical detection. The target can detect obvious changes in its surroundings, including the atoth moving objects or attacking creatures the target can also see, allowing it a new saving throw to perceive the atoth. An ally that can perceive the atoth can use a move action to warn the subject and grant it a new saving throw. The effect ends immediately if the atoth attacks the target.

As a full action, the atoth can use this ability to cloud the minds of up to 17 creatures at once, while increasing the save DC to 30. However, if it attacks any of the creatures whose minds it has clouded, it becomes visible and detectable again by all affected creatures.

Create Spawn (Su)

Humanoids slain by an atoth become wraiths in 1d4 rounds. These wraiths are not under the control of the atoth but similarly hate all life and attack living creatures they encounter.

If not destroyed, they will often stay with the atoth that created them for 1d4 days before departing.

Dimensional Omniscience (Su)

Atoths can innately sense the discorporation of mortal souls and spirits, and this act of transitional disembodiment into the verges of its tortured existence attracts their attention. Whenever a living mortal creature within 1 million miles uses a teleportation effect, or a necromancy effect that separates a creature’s spirit from its body (such as astral projection or magic jar), the atoth senses their transition and can use its dimensional rift ability to hunt them down. It cannot sense creatures shielded by mind blank unless they are within its Line_of_Sight”>line of sight.

Transmutation spells that alter an individual’s corporeal form allowing them to travel in overlapping planes (such as ethereal jaunt or shadow walk) or become incorporeal do not trigger an atoth’s dimensional omniscience, but it can sense the presence of creatures using such effects within 1 mile (regardless of whether the atoth is on the Material Plane or a transitive plane like the Ethereal Plane, Shadow Plane, or Dimension of Dreams) and can use its dimensional rift ability to intercept them.

Effects used by outsiders (except for native outsiders) or immortal creatures do not attract an atoth’s attention when using effects such as these.

Feed on Fear (Su)

Any time an atoth is within 15 feet of a dying creature or creature subject to a fear effect, it gains fast healing 10.

Nightmare Rift (Su)

Once per day an atoth can tear holes in the dimensions, allowing it to rip into the dimensional pathways other creatures use to transport themselves across and between dimensions and planes. Rending that pathway asunder, the atoth intercepts such creatures in the midst of their journey, appearing instantaneously adjacent to its targets, interrupting their journey and drawing them into a bounded null-space outside of normal space and time. Creatures can attempt a DC 26 Will save to resist being drawn into the nightmare rift; however, if one or more allies fail a saving throw and are drawn into it, allies who have successfully saved may choose to be drawn in. Creatures that save are not drawn into the nightmare rift, but all creatures that encounter an atoth in this way are have haunting visions of grasping, shadowy beasts stalking them through unseen passages the next time they sleep, affecting them as mind thrust (5th-level, DC 25). If the save is failed, these nightmares continue to plague them every time they sleep. These nightmares continue until a creature successfully saves on three consecutive nights. They also can be ended by remove affliction (with a successful DC 29 caster level check), psychic surgery, miracle, or wish.

There is no light within the nightmare rift, save what travelers bring with them. In addition, once per round at the end of the atoth’s turn it can attempt a caster level check as a swift action to dispel all magical light effects within 60 feet. There is no solid matter within the rift nor any gravity, but all creatures gain a fly speed of 30 feet (perfect maneuverability).

Conjuration effects (including all forms of teleportation or planar travel) do not function within the nightmare rift, though shadow effects that duplicate conjurations do. Likewise, effects that alter the flow of time or allow divination that reveals information about the past or future are suppressed within the nightmare rift. Within the nightmare rift, an atoth gains a +5 Insight bonus to AC and on its saving throws and attack and damage rolls and saving throws, and it also gains fast healing 30 (this stacks with the fast healing from its feed on fear ability).

The rift is a dimension purely of mind, so mindless creatures cannot be drawn into it, nor can unconscious creatures; if either type of creature accompanies those who have failed their save, they are held in a null-border between moments at the edge of the rift while their fellows encounter the atoth. Creatures knocked unconscious within the rift disappear into this null-space as well at the beginning of their next turn after being knocked unconscious, as are the physical remains and gear of creatures killed within the rift. If the atoth is destroyed, the rift collapses and creatures within it continue on to their final destination, accompanied by any wraiths created within the nightmare rift. If all creatures other than the atoth and wraiths are killed or knocked unconscious, they and their remains return to their point of origin in the Material Plane while the atoth and its wraiths are shunted away 1d100 x 100 miles in a random direction.

Tendrils (Ex)

An atoth attacks with its ghostly claws and bite with its normal reach, but it also can make one attack each round with its long streamer of ghostly tendrils, with a natural reach of 20 feet; it uses this reach for the purpose of determining its threatened area. When an atoth uses the charge, run, or withdraw action, it can make a single attack at any point during its movement with its tendrils. The target for this tendril attack must be within 10 feet of the atoth’s line of movement, and it cannot be the target of the atoth’s charge.

ECOLOGY

Environment anyOrganization solitary, pair, or misery (3-5)

Atoths are hideous undead parasites that exist outside of time within the void of space. When a ceroptor dies within its host body during extra-dimensional travel, the material essence associated with the corporeal body tears free and jettisons into the void. The essence of the material form then reforms, creating the atoth. Lacking souls and therefore devoid of true consciousness, they cannot fully merge with the outer realms.

As a result, their forms remain tragically addicted to the egoic consciousness of living things. This means that while the atoths can potentially travel anywhere in the void, they remain inextricably bound to exist in the dimensions that surround the world upon which their old material form was fabricated. Their torso and arms appear almost solid at first glance, though on close viewing their bodies are translucent and ephemeral, barely held together by their hunger and their hate.

Atoths are singularly consumed with feeding off the psychic energies of living creatures, particularly emotional energies such as joy, love, fear, and anger. They are cursed to sense these energies radiating from the material worlds upon which they can no longer manifest, thus whenever a living being breaks from the material form and enter the dimension of non-being, the atoth explode into a frenzied rush to devour their mortal essence in its discorporate form. Cruelly, they can beget no true sustenance from the emotions of their victims. Following only a brief period of satiation that antecedes their feasting, their emptiness and disconnect returns a thousand-fold, driving them to become even more aggressive and ferocious in their hunts.

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